Celebrity news: Obama's book tour fit for a rock star

Check out the upcoming events at Chicago's United Center and you'll see Bulls games, Blackhawks games and concerts by Fleetwood Mac, Nicki Minaj and Cher, among others.

And former First Lady Michelle Obama, to launch her book tour in November.

Just for the scale of its venues, there has never been a rollout quite like the one for Obama's memoir "Becoming," with stops including the Pepsi Center in Denver and American Airlines Center in Dallas. While popular authors have been likened to rock stars for years, Obama is the first to promote her book on a scale common for top musical performers, even using the entertainment company Live Nation.

"Mrs. Obama wanted to make her tour as accessible as possible," Tara Traub, senior vice president of Live Nation Touring, said in a statement. "The Live Nation team also knew the demand for her tour would be extraordinary. For these reasons, we knew an arena tour would maximize the number of people who will be able to join this unforgettable conversation with Mrs. Obama."

While the traditional bookstore reading is usually free and might be called a success if a few dozen show up, Obama's appearances will be at venues of 15,000 and higher in capacity, with tickets that range from just under $30 to $3,000. (VIP tickets include the chance to meet the former first lady.)

Despite some complaints on social media about prices, tickets have been selling so quickly that this week Live Nation added two additional events, at Barclays Center in New York City and Capitol One Arena in Washington.